Thursday, September 20, 2007

The annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is now available for download. Read it here.

The results? 195 companies received a perfect score -- a 41% increase from 2007. 15 of these companies appeared in the CEI for the first time.

Wal-mart slipped from 65% last year to 40% in 2008. Why? In response to conservative critics, Wal-mart no longer supports GLBT organizations. Their new stance is to not to "support or oppose highly controversial issues." Read more about Wal-mart's GLBT policies here.

As most of us know, Congress has been having hearings about the recent toxic toy recalls. They've summoned Toys "R" Us and Mattel, which makes sense: Toys "R" Us sells 18% of the toys in the United States and Mattel is one of the largest toy distibutors in the U.S. (notice I said "distributor" and not "manufacturer." Like most companies these days, Mattel can't afford to manufacture their own toys cheap enough to sell to Wal-mart; so they outsource to Chinese factories, who outsource to other factories, etc.)

Why wasn't Wal-mart asked to be a part of the toxic toys hearings? They sell more toys in the U.S. than Toys "R" Us does; in fact, they almost sell twice as many toys. Wal-mart sells 30% of the countries toys vs. 18% at Toys "R" Us. So why wasn't Wal-mart a part of the hearings? One word: lobbying.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

In a speech by President Bush on August 28, 2007, the president clues us in on his plans to invade Iran:

We meet today at a critical time for our country. America is engaged in a greatideological struggle — fighting Islamic extremists across the globe. Today Iwant to talk to you and to the American people about a key aspect of thestruggle: the fight for the future of the Middle East. I’m going to explain whydefeating the extremists in this troubled region is essential to our nation’ssecurity….

The other strain of radicalism in the Middle East is Shia extremism, supported and embodied by the regime that sits in Tehran. Iran has long been a source of trouble in the region. It is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Iran backs Hezbollah who are trying to undermine the democratic government of Lebanon. Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent, and target Israel, and destabilize the Palestinian territories.

Iran is sending arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan, which could be used to attack American and NATO troops. Iran has arrested visiting American scholars who have committed no crimes and pose no threat to their regime. And Iran’s active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.

Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. And that is why the United States is rallying friends and allies around the world to isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late.

Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on ourforces and the Iraqi people. Members of the Qods Force of Iran’s IslamicRevolutionary Guard Corps are supplying extremist groups with funding andweapons, including sophisticated IEDs. And with the assistance of Hezbollah,they’ve provided training for these violent forces inside of Iraq. Recently,coalition forces seized 240-millimeter rockets that had been manufactured inIran this year and that had been provided to Iraqi extremist groups by Iranianagents. The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitionshave increased in the last few months — despite pledges by Iran to helpstabilize the security situation in Iraq.

Some say Iran’s leaders are not aware of what members of their own regime are doing. Others say Iran’s leaders are actively seeking to provoke the West. Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities.

The gove-nator, Arnold Scwarzenegger, is set to veto the gay marriage bill that passed the California Senate 22-15. This is the second time in two years the actor-turned-politician has denied the citizens of the second-largest gay population in the nation the rights to marry.